Russia's threat of a nuclear strike on Poland - bluff or real?
Could Georgia prove to have been the spark that lit the fuse that exploded the bomb that destroyed the world?
"Russia threatened a nuclear strike against Poland after a landmark deal to site American global anti-missile shields in the country." (Daily Telegraph, 16 August 2008)
General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said:
"By hosting these, Poland is making itself a target. This is 100 per cent certain. It becomes a target for attack. Such targets are destroyed as a first priority."
Tags: bomb, conflict, news, people, relationships, society, war
Topic Details
This topic was started by Thoralby
on August 16th, 2008. 0 grupies have voted on one or more of the answers.
Tags: bomb, conflict, news, people, relationships, society, war
Comments
Leave a comment
Could someone tell me - is this topic showing the picture I loaded? Currently, I can't see any images at all on Grupthink. What am I to do?
i am seeing an image. maybe you should try clearing your cache?
Will do - thanks.
This was not a "threat" to nuke Poland at all. This was just a General stating the obvious; When a nation places armoury close to another country's borders it's not more than natural that the places where that armoury is stationed becomes a priority target in case of war. (notice the words; "IN CASE of war")
America is forcing THEIR weapons on (now) European soil and for what? To protect Europe from the Russians?? Please don't make me laugh, All the Americans are doing is provocation. America is totally in the grip of insanity and wars, they are out of control with their fear and warmongering and frankly I think the world (including Europe) is slowly getting fed up with their war policies and bullying of independent nations to agree with them.
America has got to learn that they can not be the bully-on-the-block anymore, someone is going to kick their ass sooner or later and no one will help them.
I absolutely agree with this - US State = Bully. America itself is split between the neo-cons and the sane population who also oppose this bullying behaviour. I feel sorry for Americans who dare to voice their disgust at the State's interference in other people's affairs. The neo-cons more or less accuse them of treason.
(I also can't believe that someone named for a brand of oven chips (fries to you people across the pond) may soon be the Prezza.)
American says that weapon systems placed in countries bordering or close to Russia are not a threat to Russia but a threat to "rogue States" like Iran. When Russia said, OK then, lets co-operate and you can place systems in Southern Russian near Iran, the American State answered no. After that response, I am sure that Russia knows exactly what to think.
© RIA Novosti
Moscow News
Top Brass Defends Russia's Right to Preemptive Strike
Russia underlined its right to a "preventive" nuclear strike this week in what military analysts interpreted as a move to introduce more clarity into the nation's defense doctrine. The statements, made by Chief of General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky on Saturday, were followed by naval exercises in the northern Atlantic that will feature over 40 aircraft of the Air Force. Though unrelated, the developments pointed to a Russia not so much on the offensive as a one that was eager to bring its defense doctrine in line with that of the Western world and make it more up to date with contemporary military demands.
"We are not planning to attack anyone. But our partners should clearly understand... that the armed forces will be used if necessary to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation and its allies, including on a preventative basis, including with the use of nuclear weapons," RIA Novosti quoted Baluyevsky as saying Saturday at a scientific conference in Moscow. He underlined, however, that "military force can and must be used to demonstrate the decisiveness of the top leadership of the country" only as "a last resort" and when all other methods have failed.
"This is the clarification of the nuclear doctrine," Sergei Karaganov, a defense expert and the dean of the International Politics Department at the Higher School of Economics, told The Moscow News. "What [Baluyevsky] means is the enhanced deterrence doctrine, which was created in the United States" and used by NATO for decades.
And while Karaganov believes the statements might be interpreted more aggressively in the West, they are mostly meant to have a psychological impact.
"We have adopted the concept of preemption," he says, noting that it was previously not part of Russia's nuclear doctrine.
General Gennady Yevstafyev, a former military intelligence officer, believes that though General Baluyevsky made some very important and necessary clarifications, there is nothing "extraordinary" about the statements. They are in line with the doctrine President Vladimir Putin began spelling out in 2000, which announced Russia's readiness to use nuclear weapons for the defense of itself and its allies.
Yevstafyev pointed out, however, that Baluyevsky's comments should be understood in a context that includes some of the other statements made at the conference. "Soon we will not be able to maintain missile defense," Yevstafyev told The Moscow News, echoing Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, who told a conference at the Academy of Military Sciences in Moscow that over the next 12 years foreign powers will "obtain fundamentally new means and systems" and integrate intelligence, communications and navigation, leaving almost all of Russia's territory vulnerable.
"Under these conditions a potential enemy will gain the ability to carry out high-precision strikes, coordinated in terms of time and space, on practically any target on Russian territory," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
As for Baluyevsky's statements themselves, experts doubt they will have any serious impact on relations between Russia and NATO.
"This is not news for NATO," Karaganov said. "As for our allies, we will see who's ready to join our nuclear umbrella." Asked what potential allies might benefit from this kind of protection, Karaganov pointed to countries in Asia.
The statements came against a backdrop of the biggest military exercises staged in the Atlantic since the end of the Cold War as warships and nuclear bombers successfully test fired supersonic cruise missiles close to the Iberian Peninsula. The Moskva missile cruiser of the Russian Black Sea Fleet staged a successful live fire exercise, while 40 aircraft, including Tu-160 Blackjacks are set to take part. Col. Gen. Yuri Soloviev, meanwhile, announced this week that the Moscow Region would have a second unit operating a S-400 Triumph zenith anti-missile system by the end of the year.
By Anna Arutunyan